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Part 11 - Case Study Points 7-10: The purpose of “How to Market Your Practice” is to give physicians a realist
view of what “Marketing Your Practice” is really all about. It will not only
explain how important it is to market to payors, referring physicians and the
general public but most importantly WHY. It will establish the need for goals
and objectives and ways you can reach them. If you are seriously considering
marketing your practice, the following information will clarify and answer questions
you may have and show you how to get started.

XI. Case Study One
This Case Study is based on a practice of 10 orthopaedic surgeons in the southeast
U.S. with several locations within the same demographic area.

7. Marketing to Payors (Insurance providers, TPA’s, Employers, Self-Insurers,
Etc.)
Some marketing efforts to workers’ compensation payors were already in place.
The practice continued to support their local workers’ compensation organizations
with their annual conferences. Satisfaction surveys were created and distributed
to all workers’ compensation representatives, employers’ and self-insurers.
The practice physicians and physical therapists provided presentations to
local employers and self-insurers. Physicians visited local employers for
tours of their facilities to gain a better understanding of their patients
work environment and participated in numerous health fairs to promote employee
safety. Holiday gifts were distributed to all local workers’ compensation
representatives in appreciation of their support throughout the year. 8. Marketing to Referring Physicians
The physicians provided presentations for local hospitals for educational
purposes. A referring physician’s satisfaction survey was created and distributed
to monitor the level of service being provided by the practice. The practice
worked with local hospital media relations departments for interviews in their
hospital newsletters. Holiday gifts were distributed to local physicians in
appreciation of their support throughout the year as well as holiday cards
that were sent “in donation of” the referring physician’s name to a local
non-profit organization.

9. Marketing to General Public
The practice participated in local health fairs and fitness expos to promote
“orthopaedic injury awareness” and show their support to their community.
Sponsorships were provided to local organizations such as little league baseball,
high school athletics and local dance teams. A patient satisfaction survey
was created and implemented so the practice could identify what was working
as well as those areas for improvement. The physicians provided TV and newspaper
interviews on new procedures and orthopaedic injury education for the community.

10. Tracking & Planning
The Director compiled the results of the workers’ compensation, referring
physicians and patient satisfaction surveys and distributed the results to
the physicians and the staff. Monthly reports were generated to monitor referrals
from referring physicians, workers’ compensation and to review the increase/decrease
in patient volume and revenue.

What are the plans for the future?
The Director utilized the Planning Calendar to monitor the actions of the
plan so the practice would not deviate from their set goals and objectives.
The Director kept a running list of the ideas for future marketing efforts
that would be considered for next year’s plan.

Who should you choose to market your practice?
As stated above, the practice chose to hire a full-time Director to oversee
their marketing efforts. The Director had previous marketing and public
relations experience, but was not familiar with the medical industry. The
Director was initially hired with a base salary and no bonus or incentives.